Carla Marinucci: Gov shows “action” with fire response

Long Beach — In the wake of devastating wildfires raging across Southern California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn’t stay with his wife, first lady Maria Shriver, and 14,000 women here at the country’s largest women’s conference — at least in person.

The governor addressed the crowd by remote from the fire lines this morning, saying he felt it necessary to be on the scene where he could “take care of the firefighters” and see for himself how evacuees and the most vulnerable residents — seniors and children — were being cared for.

“The fire is spreading very fast,” said Schwarzenegger, in response to questions from New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, who sat on stage at the Long Beach Convention Center with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The three were expected to hold an on-stage discussion about leadership. Instead, Schwarzenegger addressed the challenges of leadership under emergency circumstances.

He such called the conditions of the fire — high temperatures and “extraordinary winds” — a kind of “perfect storm.”

The governor said 6,000 firefighters statewide are on duty to fight the spreading blazes. The California governor also said he was grateful that President Bush had agreed to declare a state of emergency, and that other governors had offered help and assistance.

But asked by Friedman about the challenges of dealing with an emergency created by nature, rather than politics, Schwarzenegger said “the most important thing is you jump into action as quickly as possible … that you are a hands-on governor.”

It’s essential to see the devastation and the heroes in person to show “that you are there with the firefighters.”

Schwarzenegger said that seeing to details — whether there were diapers, medications and toilet paper for the more than 250,000 who have been evacuated in Southern California — helps leaders understand that their job is to “bring everyone together” in such tragedies.